Revelation 12:9

“And the great dragon was cast out, etc.] From heaven, or from power and authority in the Roman empire, namely, the devil, where he had long presided; it is observable that Constantine himself speaks of “the dragon” being removed from the government of the commonwealth by the providence of God, and by the ministry, or means of him f325; and he had his own effigies on a table placed before the porch of his palace, with the cross over his head, and a dragon under his feet thrust through with darts, and falling headlong f326; the old serpent; who is so called, because, of old, from the beginning, almost as soon as the world was, he appeared in the form of a serpent, or rather made use of it as…”

“that old serpent--alluding to Gen 3:1, Gen 3:4. Devil--the Greek, for "accuser," or "slanderer." Satan--the Hebrew for "adversary," especially in a court of justice. The twofold designation, Greek and Hebrew, marks the twofold objects of his accusations and temptations, the elect Gentiles and the elect Jews. world--Greek, "habitable world."”

“And the great dragon was cast out - See the notes on Revelation 12:3. That there may be an allusion in the language here to what actually occurred in some far distant period of the past, when Satan was ejected from heaven, there can be no reason to doubt. Our Saviour seems to refer to such an event in the language which he uses when he says Luke 10:18, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven”; and Jude, perhaps Revelation 12:6, may refer to the same event. All that we know on the subject leads us to suppose that at some time there was a revolt among the angels, and that the rebellious part were cast out of heaven, for an allusion to this is not infrequent in the Scriptures. Still the…”

“And the great dragon was cast out - It is not yet said, unto the earth - He was cast out of heaven; and at this the inhabitants of heaven rejoice. He is termed the great dragon, as appearing here in that shape, to intimate his poisonous and cruel disposition. The ancient serpent - In allusion to his deceiving Eve in that form. Dragons are a kind of large serpent. Who is called the Devil and Satan - These are words of exactly the same meaning; only the former is Greek; the latter, Hebrew; denoting the grand adversary of all the saints, whether Jews or gentiles. He has deceived the whole world - Not only in their first parents, but through all ages, and in all countries, into unbelief and all…”

“the great: Rev 12:3, Rev 12:7; Luk 10:18; Joh 12:31 that: Rev 12:14, Rev 12:15, Rev 20:2; Gen 3:1, Gen 3:4, Gen 3:13; Isa 27:1, Isa 65:25 the Devil: Rev 9:20, Rev 16:14, Rev 18:2; Mat 4:1, Mat 4:5, Mat 4:8, Mat 13:39; Luk 8:12; Joh 8:44; Ti1 3:6, Ti1 3:7; Heb 2:14; Jo1 3:8-10; Jde 1:9 and Satan: Rev 2:9, Rev 2:13, Rev 2:24, Rev 3:9; Ch1 21:1; Job 1:6-12, Job 2:1; Psa 109:6; Zac 3:1, Zac 3:2; Mat 4:10; Luk 13:16, Luk 22:3, Luk 22:31; Act 5:3, Act 26:18; Rom 16:20; Co2 2:11, Co2 11:14; Co2 12:7; Th2 2:9 deceiveth: Rev 13:14, Rev 18:23, Rev 19:20, Rev 20:3, Rev 20:8, Rev 20:10; Mat 24:24; Rom 16:18; Co2 11:3; Eph 4:14; Th2 2:3, Th2 2:9-11; Ti1 2:14; Ti2 3:13; Jo1 5:19 he was: Rev 9:1; Eze…”